Help Create The Ultimate Fantasy Football League (June Edition)

by user DNL

The typical fantasy football league sucks. There's really no other way to say it. Luck plays a huge rule. Trading is non-existant. The first-come, first-served free agent system is perfectly idiotic. I could go on, but I'll spare you.

Over the course of the last few months, I've been developing what I think is the best set of rules out there. I'd appreciate your help in making it even better. In the comments, please leave your suggestions and vote for other suggestion you like. I'll incorporate the ones I agree with and/or are well-received and republish the (updated) rules next month. There are a few suggestions, however, I'm going to ignore:

Using defenses or, Heaven forbid, individual defensive player (IDP). Don't get me started.
Bifurcating tight ends out of the receiver category.
Significantly reducing roster size or starting lineup size.
Going away from the dynasty (that is, lots of keepers) format.

On the other hand, there are a few things I'd specifically like your input on. Of course, please offer all your comments (with the above exceptions).

Passing TDs/2pt Conversions: I tend to prefer 6/2, but I made it 4/1. Why? Because the NFL did this really freaking annoying thing this year. Six teams, not four, are off in any given bye week (except one or two). As this league starts 24 QBs in any given week, there's a good chance that a team will have to get a start or two out of a backup. I don't want that to kill a team's chances.
Fantasy point scoring system: Honestly, head to head is dumb. Your team's chances shouldn't be a function of some opponent over whom you have no control. I also think roto isn't any fun, especially in football. But I'm open to other arguments.
The playoffs, or lack thereof.
How I can automate league management. A typically Yahoo or Sportsline league won't do it.

Oh, that "DateTK" stuff means I'll fill in the dates later. Don't worry too much about it. The order is what matters.

Be forewarned: These rules are very complicated. But they could be really damn good.

Basic Rules

Eight teams, each with an annual salary cap of $1000. At no time may an owner be above the cap except for as noted below.
Each team activates 15 players: 3 QB, 3 RB/FB, 3 PK, and 6 WR/TE/H-B. Substitutions may be made up until the player's game time.
There is no maximum or minimum roster size.
The team with the most fantasy points at the end of the regular season wins the title. (There are no playoffs.)
All point totals are rounded down to the nearest integer. Points are earned as follows:
- 1 point for 25 yards thrown
- 1 point for 10 yards rushed
- 1 point for 10 yards received
- .5 points per reception
- 3 points per FG
- 2 points per two point conversion scored
- 1 point per two point conversion thrown
- 6 points per TD scored
- 4 points per TD thrown

Calendar

DateTK: The new season begins at 2 PM. All "End of Season" actions must occur before this time.
- Any team wishing to designate a player/players as "restricted" must do so before this time.
- Any team wishing to designate a player as its "franchise" player must do so before this time.
- All contracts advance to the next year. Any player not under contract is released.
- All dead money assessed to the year prior is erased.
DateTK: The draft occurs. During the initial season, this is the "Original Draft." In subsequent seasons, this is the "Reassignment Draft." Teams may not cut players. (Players may be traded.)
Immediately after: Contract Signing period begins. Teams may sign players to long-term contracts.
DateTK: Contract Signing period ends at 2 PM. Teams may not trade players.
Same Date as Above: Free agency period begins at 4 PM. Teams may cut and trade players.
Date Set by NFL: Regular Season Begins.*
Date Set by NFL (24 hours before kickoff of first game before week 13): Any player traded on or after this point is ineligible for activation.
Date Set by NFL (end of regular NFL season): Champion named; trading restriction is lifted.

Original Draft

Any player drafted by an NFL team, signed to an NFL contract, and/or currently in the NFL is eligible to be drafted in the Original Draft.
200 players will be put up for auction.
The team that puts a player up for auction automatically bids $1 on that player.
The team with the highest bid on a player gets the rights to that player, with the player's salary being the amount bid.

Contract Signing

This period takes place before the free agency period and/or regular season opens.
The 20% line is determined: The players taken at the original draft are ranked by their auction price. The player's salary whose salary causes the player to be ranked at the 20% mark on that list is used to determine the 20% line.
Each team may sign as many of its players as it wishes to long-term contracts ("LTC"). LTCs work as follows:
- An LTC can be for three, four, or five years.
- For any player signed to an LTC, each season's base salary can be no less than the greater of the player's auction price or the 20% line.
- The player's salary, across the life of the contract, is increased by the following chart:
  - Three years: An additional 60% of the base salary, rounded up to the nearest dollar.
  - Four years: An additional 120% of the base salary, rounded up to the nearest dollar.
  - Five years: An additional 180% of the base salary, rounded up to the nearest dollar.

Note: This money may be allocated however the owner sees fit; however, it must be set at the time the LTC is put into effect.

EXAMPLE 1: The 20% line is $10. Jerry Rice goes at auction for $50. His owner wishes to sign him to a four year contract. The owner therefore must give Rice $50/year, minimum, and assign an additional $60 (120% of 50) however he sees fit over the life of the contract. He chooses:

Year 1: $50
Year 2: $60 (+10)
Year 3: $70 (+20, net +30)
Year 4: $80 (+30, net +60)

EXAMPLE 2: The 20% line is $10. Ryan Leaf goes at auction for $1. His owner wishes to sign him to a five year contract. The owner must therefore give Leaf $10/year (as the 20% rule comes into play) minimum, and assign an additional $18 (180% of 10) however he sees fit over the life of the contract. He chooses:

Year 1: $28 (+18)
Year 2: $10
Year 3: $10
Year 4: $10
Year 5: $10

EXAMPLE 3: The 20% line is $10. Ryan Leaf goes at auction for $1. His owner does NOT wish to sign him to an LTC. Leaf is therefore paid:

Year 1: $1

Cutting Players

"Dead money" is money that uses up cap space but is not associated with a particular player
An owner may cut a player at any time, freeing himself of the player's salary, but suffers a "dead money" penalty:
- One-half of the player's current year's salary, rounded up to the nearest dollar, is considered dead money against the current year's cap.
- One-half of the player's future salaries owed is considered dead money against the corresponding year's cap.
Before a season starts, an owner may accellerate future dead money into the next season's budget, at its discretion. Note that deferring dead money payments is not allowed.

EXAMPLE: Using the Jerry Rice contract, above. During Year 1, the owner cuts Rice, thereby freeing himself of Rice's contract. However, the owner receives:

$25 of dead money for the remainder of Year 1
$30 of dead money for Year 2
$35 of dead money for Year 3, and
$40 of dead money for Year 4.

The owner, at that time, cannot do anything about the dead money.

However, before Year 2 begins, the owner may take as much of the Year 3 and Year 4 dead money as it wishes and add it to its Year 2 budget. In this example, the owner decides to assign $10 of Year 3 dead money and $10 of Year 4 dead money to its Year 2 budget, giving the following breakdown:

$50 of dead money for Year 2
$25 of dead money for Year 3
$30 of dead money for Year 4.

Before Year 3 begins, the owner decides to further accellerate the remaining dead money into the Year 3 budget, giving a new breakdown:

$35 of dead money for Year 3
$0 of dead money for Year 4

Any player cut is immediately put on waivers. Waiver priority goes to the team with the worst record at the time of the release; the team with the best record has the lowest priority. If an owner selects the player, the owner gets the player as if he were acquired via trade (that is, the player travels with his contract). If no owner claims the player, the player becomes an in-season free agent (below) and is no longer under contract.

Trading Players

Players may be traded freely so long as they are under contract with the owner making the trade. If a player is traded, his contract goes with him to the new team. If a player is traded, the owner trading that player may, if so bargained by the parties, retain some of the salary owed that player as dead money. The player's contract is modified by the amount of dead money retained by the trading owner.

Nothing else may be traded.
Dead money acquired in this fashion may be accelerated as above.

EXAMPLE: Owner A has Jerry Rice at 50-60-70-80. Owner B has Al Del Greco at $1. Owner A trades Rice to Owner B in exchange for Del Greco, but in doing so, Owner A retains $20 of Rice's salary for each of the four years. The end result is:

Owner A gets 20-20-20-20 of dead money assigned to him.
Owner A gets Al Del Greco at $1.
Owner B gets Jerry Rice at 30-40-50-60. That is hereafter Rice's contract.

Free Agency

Any player who was eligible for a preseason draft, yet is not currently on an owner's roster, is an in-season free agent (FA).
Any owner may put a FA up for auction. FAs are acquired via auction as if they were available during the original draft, with one exception: An owner may temporarily exceed his salary cap number for 24 hours after adding the player, provided that the 24 hour period does not extend past kickoff of the first game of that week. If that provision is not met, the owner has until one hour before kickoff of that game to get to or below the salary cap. If an owner fails to do so, the newly acquired player is cut with the benefits and consequences as per usual.
- In an owner is, due to this forced cut, over the $1,000 salary cap, all excess money is trebled (that is, multiplied by three) and attributed to next years cap as dead money.
A player assigned to a team via FA may not be signed to an LTC during that year.

End of Season

An owner may designate any player or players who are currently on his roster, but not under contract for the next year, as "restricted." If the owner chooses to restrict the player, the owner is assigned dead money in the next year equal to the greater of
- 50% of the player's most recent auction price or
- 50% of the most recent 20% line salary.
An owner may designate any ONE player who is currently on his roster, but neither under contract for the next year nor designated as restricted, as his "franchise" player. The franchise player must also be given a LTC, using the same rules as normal. The terms of the LTC must be announced at the time the franchise designation is announced. That player is given a base salary next year equal to the greater of
- 120% of his current salary or
- the average of the current salaries of the top three players at his position.


	EXAMPLE: Jerry Rice's contract expires after Year 5, with a salary of $80. His owner wishes to designate him the team's franchise player. The top 3 WRs average salary is $90; therefore, Rice's base salary is $96 (120% of 80). Rice's owner gives him a four year extension, and has therefore to allot $116 extra dollars over that time period.

Reassignment Draft

The Reassignment Draft uses the same rules as the Original Draft, with the following exceptions:

Any player still under contract on a team in this league is ineligible to be put up for auction.
The number of players to be put up for auction is 200 minus the players still under contract.
If the owner who places the highest bid on a restricted player is not the owner who restricted that player, the restricting owner may choose to match the bid and retain that player's rights. If matched, the owner who placed the high bid is not responsible for the player's salary.